The technical field of the invention pertains generally to illuminating a work area and illuminating an area proximate to the working end of a handpiece, and, more particularly, to designs and methods for a tattooing lighting system and a tattoo machine grip that provides illumination from its working end to illuminate the area proximate to the tattoo tip and the tattoo artist's subject (i.e. the area being tattooed).
Generally, tattooing involves the mechanical placement of pigment into the skin's dermis, which is the second layer of skin/dermal tissue underlying the outermost layer of skin called the epidermis. The most common method of tattooing is via an electric tattoo machine, which pierces the epidermis to insert ink into the dermis using a single needle or a group of needles that are soldered onto a bar. The bar is then rapidly and repeatedly driven back and forth so that the needles pierce the skin typically between 50 and 100 times a second. The needles are typically single-use needles. The tattoo artist typically wears disposable garments such as a disposable plastic apron and eye protection, depending on the risk of contact with blood or other secretions. The tattoo artist typically wears nitrile or similar protective gloves. The subject area to be tattooed is washed prior to tattooing and is typically wiped frequently with a wet disposable towel during the process. All non-disposable equipment and supplies used are sterilized (such as in an autoclave) before and after each use.
Current tattoo lighting options include headlamps worn by the tattoo artist, tabletop light fixtures set alongside or near the artist, floor standing light fixtures positioned near the artist's work area, and soft box or other lighting devices more commonly used in film and photography. Each of these options provides particular benefits, yet none is ideal for tattooing. None of the available lighting options adequately address the problem of eliminating shadows cast upon the subject being tattooed.
Headlamps are cumbersome, uncomfortable, awkward, and typically cause the artist some distraction and disengagement from the subject to periodically adjust the headlamp with one or both hands. Headlamps cast shadows on the subject's skin, for example, wherever the tattoo artist's machine passes between the headlamp light source and the subject being tattooed. Tabletop and floor standing light fixtures likewise cause distraction and disengagement, with periodic adjustments needed to adequately illuminate the area being tattooed and avoid shadows. Soft box or umbrellas, or other lighting devices commonly used in photography, are sometimes used to provide even and diffused light. However, such lighting devices are typically large and cumbersome and also require periodic adjustments to illuminate the area desired. All of these lighting options require frequent repositioning of the light source or the artist's subject or the tattooist, or all three, to avoid shadows and adequately illuminate the area being tattooed.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/974,869 filed Oct. 16, 2007 (pub. no. US 2008/0089067 A1) by Grosjean (hereinafter, “Grosjean”) is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference. Grosjean discloses a light attachable to and powered by a tattoo machine. The device consists of a gooseneck type attachment to a tattoo machine that is connected to the same electrical power connections used to power the tattoo machine. The neck portion extends from the top of the frame portion of the tattoo machine toward the tattoo grip and holds a light emitting diode (LED) light source at its end, with the light directable toward the tattoo tip. The gooseneck type device, however, does not provide a secure light source and is susceptible to vibration and unwanted movement due to the artist's hand movements. As the tattoo artist moves the machine back and forth to apply, for example, shading or lining, the gooseneck tends to wobble and sway, causing the light projected from the end of the gooseneck to move undesirably. The device needs to be periodically repositioned or reoriented with respect to the artist's subject to avoid unwanted shadows, is not easily coverable with disposable materials for each new subject, and likely requires cleaning between each new subject.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/936,958 filed Sep. 9, 2004 (pub. no. US 2005/0090851 A1) by Devlin (hereinafter, “Devlin”) is hereby incorporated in its entirety by reference. Devlin discloses a tattoo grip having light emitting diodes (LEDs) at the tip end of the grip and that are electrically powered, like Grosjean, via the electrical power connections used to power the tattoo machine. The device, however, is difficult to clean and limits the artist to the particular size of grip that includes the built-in LEDs. Another disadvantage of the Devlin device is its complexity of manufacture, and consequently higher cost, and increased weight by including LEDs and electrical wiring within the tattoo grip. Dissipating the heat generated by the LEDs is yet another problem with such device. Heat generated by the LEDs in the Devlin type device dissipates into the grip causing the grip to warm up during use.
Both the Grosjean and Devlin devices use fixed LEDs that likely provide poor light quality in terms of light color, intensity, and color rendering. Less expensive LEDs typically perform poorly in terms of color rendering, which is the ability of the LEDs to accurately/truthfully represent colors. Neither the Grosjean gooseneck type device nor the Devlin type device allow for cost effective use of higher quality light sources. Standard incandescent light sources render colors very well and typically provide warmer/yellow light with a color temperature of around 2500 Kelvin. By comparison, fluorescent lighting typically provide light with a cool white appearance and color temperature around 5000 Kelvin. Generally, standard fluorescent and lower cost LED lights do not render colors as well as standard incandescent lights.
What is needed, therefore, are new designs and methods for illuminating an area proximate to the working end of a handpiece or tattoo machine grip that address shortcomings of the available designs and methods.
The foregoing and other objectives, features, and advantages of the invention will be more readily understood upon consideration of the following detailed description of the invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.